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Pearling seminar
October 22, 2010
Language and legitimation:
Disciplinary differences in constructing space
for new knowledge.
Dr Susan Hood
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
[email protected]
Visiting Scholar Hong Kong Polytechnic University
How does discipline impact on who gets to
know what in the introduction to a research
paper?
The problem…
There has been much recent discussion in studies of academic literacy around the
need to address disciplinary differences.
An understanding of the ways in which disciplines use language differently, and hence
mean differently, is fundamental to providing meaningful academic language support
for students and researchers. It is also especially relevant in an evolving academic
context in which inter-disciplinary or trans-disciplinary study and research are
actively encouraged. Effective inter-disciplinary collaboration relies on a better
understanding of disciplinary differences.
To date studies of disciplinary differences in applied linguistics have been dominated
by two orientations:
- corpus-based quantitative studies of distributions of discrete linguistic features,
and/or
- ethnographic studies that choose to largely ignore language in favour of
observations of ‘activity’.
Engaging with sociological theorisations of knowledge (Bernstein; Maton) has
suggested a number of fruitful directions for the linguistic analysis and explanation of
disciplinary difference.
From the field of the sociology of knowledge …. Disciplines as kinds of knowledge structures
(Bernstein 1999)
Bernstein draws our attention to differences in kinds of knowledge (what he calls discourses):
Horizontal discourse or commonsense knowledge
‘local, segmentally organised, context-specific and dependent’
The kind of knowledge we acquire and use in the home and local community.
Vertical discourse or un-commonsense knowledge
'coherent, explicit and systematically principled structure'.
characteristic of formal schooling and of academic study where knowledge is abstracted from
everyday and commonsense understandings.
Then Bernstein differentiates vertical discourse into different kinds of knowledge structures:
Hierarchical knowledge structures
Horizontal knowledge structures.
Disciplines as Hierarchical or Horizontal knowledge structures (Bernstein 1999)
A hierarchical knowledge structure is one that builds on and integrates knowledge at
lower levels in the attempt 'to create very general propositions and theories’. There is an
integration of existing knowledge in the process of constructing new knowledge
- as in the natural sciences.
This orientation towards integration at lower levels in the building of generalised
propositions is typically represented visually as a triangle:
A horizontal knowledge structure is 'a series of specialised languages, each with its own
specialised modes of interrogation and specialised criteria’
- as in the humanities.
A horizontal knowledge structure is represented diagrammatically as a series of discrete
strongly bounded and so segmented languages
L1
L2
L3
Ln
Knowledge structures (Bernstein 1996,1999, 2000)
Accumulating knowledge through integration
Hierarchical knowledge structure
the sciences
Accumulating knowledge segmentally
Horizontal knowledge structure
L
L
L
L
the humanities
1
2
3
n
Segmented languages some with with stronger verticality
the social sciences
On the basis of this theorisation from sociology of disciplines as different kinds of
knowledge structures …
we might expect to find differences in the ways in which research writers from different
disciplines go about constructing a warrant for their research in the introductions to
their research papers.
If they come from disciplinary homes that view knowledge differently and have
different ways of accumulating knowledge then we might expect that they would
engage differently with other sources of knowledge in the construction of their
research warrants. We might expect to find evidence in their writing of differences in
degrees of integration or of segmentation.
Disciplines as
Hierarchical or Horizontal knowledge structures
and
Hierarchical or Horizontal knower structures (Maton 2007, 2009)
Maton takes the conceptualisation of different kinds of knowledge structures a step
further.
‘claims to knowledge are not just of the world, they are also made by authors’
'for every knowledge structure there is also a knower structure’
Just as we can speak of disciplines as representing hierarchical or horizontal knowledge
structures, so we can also consider them as hierarchical or horizontal knower structures.
Science can be characterized as a horizontal knower structure, in which knowers are
segmented by specialized modes of acting, and where the social profile of the scientist is
irrelevant for scientific insight, while the humanities can be seen as a hierarchical knower
structure where knowers are integrated hierarchically in the construction of an ideal
knower.
LCT theory (Maton 2007)
Legitimation codes of specialisation (Maton 2007)
Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) (Maton 2000)
two sets of relations: the epistemic relation and the social relation.
The epistemic relation is that 'between educational knowledge and its proclaimed
object of study (that part of the world of which knowledge is claimed)'.
What can be known and how?
The social relation is that 'between educational knowledge and its author or
subject (who is making the claim to knowledge)’.
Who can know?
Each of these sets of relations can be relatively stronger or weaker.
Stronger epistemic relations give emphasis to the possession of explicit principles,
skills and procedures;
Stronger social relations and give emphasis to the attitudes and dispositions of
knowers.
Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) proposes that intellectual fields or disciplines can
be differentiated in terms of the relative strength or weakness of their epistemic
relations and their social relations
LCT theory (Maton 2007)
Legitimation codes of specialisation (Maton 2007)
LCT theory (Maton 2007)
We might expect the disciplinary home of the researcher to be evident in the ways
writers legitimate their research in their research paper introductions.
As functional linguists we can ask how differences in knowledge-knower structures
are instantiated in key academic genres of those intellectual fields.
One such ‘genre’ is the research article, and in particular the introduction to the
article or the research warrant
- a site in which the writer constructs a legitimating platform from which they can
proceed to report in detail on their study and its contribution to knowledge
LCT theory suggests questions that we might usefully ask in a social semiotic
analysis of this writing from different intellectual fields.
But what do we look for amongst the multitude of variations in language from text
to text that can generate patterns of difference that we can relate to differences in
knowledge-knower structuring of intellectual fields?
A set of published articles from different intellectual fields (natural sciences, social
sciences, and humanities)
A loose association with field of science
- from science journals
- from applied linguistics journal on science education
- from a cultural studies journal on science education
Aim to explore some means by which research writers represent differently
knowledge and knowers in the process of legitimating their own research.
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
lexico-grammar
phonology/graphology
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Appraisal
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Appraisal
engagement
attitude
graduation
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Appraisal
engagement
projection
attitude
counter-expectancy
graduation
modality & negation
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Appraisal
engagement
projection
attitude
counter-expectancy
graduation
modality & negation
Systemic Functional Linguistic theory
discourse semantics
ideational meaning
lexico-grammar
textual meaning
phonology/graphology
interpersonal meaning
Appraisal
engagement
projection
attitude
counter-expectancy
graduation
modality & negation
Who gets to say what?
projection
Halliday (1993) argues // that science has developed a highly sophisticated way of representing ideas
that makes writing science especially difficult for students.
Halliday (1993) argues // “science has developed a highly sophisticated way of representing ideas that
makes writing science especially difficult for students.”
Halliday (1993) believes // that writing science is especially difficult for students because of the way
ideas are represented.
It is generally understood that science has developed a highly sophisticated way of representing ideas.
The fact that writing science is especially difficult for students is widely appreciated.
The many stories and ‘radical’ fragments within this work can be envisaged as a series of sites to
which the reader is exposed.
Anderson (2004) offers a number of suggestions. First, ... . Secondly, …Finally, … .
Van de Kooi and Knorr (1973) [report that they] measured one office building and five small
dwellings over a period from February 1967 to August 1967 in The Netherlands.
projection
Voices other than the writer projecting the object of study
that acetic acid is an important
substrate for the removal of
phosphate in anaerobic/aerobic
activated sludge processes
to be a minor substrate in municipal
sewage
Therefore, novel methods of acetic
acid production from sludges
projection
Voices other than the writer projecting the object of study
Performance in language test tasks can be
influenced by a wide range of features, which
can interact unpredictably with characteristics
of individual test-takers
Collectively, these influences can be
considered as contributing to task difficulty,
abstracted projection
The field of research projecting the object of study
field:
the object of study
field: research
field:
the object of study
What do we know about projecting sources?
Roychoudhury et al (1995) argue // that “classroom interactions sanction
male dominance as a norm”.
After 40 min, Cindy suggested we end the meeting so a group of them
could study for an exam together.
I noticed how the desks were arranged into a circle, (…) I recognized most
of the students as biology majors who had at one time or another stopped
by my office.
What do we know about projecting sources?
Researcher voice:
Roychoudhury et al (1995) argue // that “classroom interactions sanction
male dominance as a norm”.
Participant voice:
After 40 min, Cindy suggested we end the meeting so a group of them
could study for an exam together.
Researcher as participant observer voice:
I noticed how the desks were arranged into a circle, (…) I recognized most
of the students as biology majors who had at one time or another stopped
by my office.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences and the humanities
[1]
Incorporation of organic molecules such as dyes inside solid matrices is an attractive topic of
research because of the photostability and fluorescence quantum yield 1-3 of the modified
materials. An approach in this regard is to incorporate molecules inside silica spheres 4-5, the
advantage of this kind of nanoscopic containers is that they can be used to control the
environment of the molecule.
[source: Rosemary et al 2006]
[2]
As I looked around the room, I recognized most of the students as biology majors who had
at one time or another stopped by my office. Of the twenty students gathered, most were
women; a group of four young men sauntered in together just as the meeting began. As it
turned out, many of the attendees had chemistry and biology classes together. Several
women mentioned how they wanted to find some old exams, and one person asked if there
were class notes from last week’s lecture that she missed. After 40 min, Cindy suggested we
end the meeting so a group of them could study for an exam together. ‘‘Let’s feed our
brains!’’ she yelled. Everyone joined her in laughter.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences and the humanities
[1]
Incorporation of organic molecules such as dyes inside solid matrices is an attractive topic of
research because of the photostability and fluorescence quantum yield 1-3 of the modified
materials. An approach in this regard is to incorporate molecules inside silica spheres 4-5, the
advantage of this kind of nanoscopic containers is that they can be used to control the
environment of the molecule.
[2]
As I looked around the room, I recognized most of the students as biology majors who had
at one time or another stopped by my office. Of the twenty students gathered, most were
women; a group of four young men sauntered in together just as the meeting began. As it
turned out, many of the attendees had chemistry and biology classes together. Several
women mentioned how they wanted to find some old exams, and one person asked if there
were class notes from last week’s lecture that she missed. After 40 min, Cindy suggested we
end the meeting so a group of them could study for an exam together. ‘‘Let’s feed our
brains!’’ she yelled. Everyone joined her in laughter.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences and the humanities
[1]
Incorporation of organic molecules such as dyes inside solid matrices is an attractive topic of
research because of the photostability and fluorescence quantum yield 1-3 of the modified
materials. An approach in this regard is to incorporate molecules inside silica spheres 4-5, the
advantage of this kind of nanoscopic containers is that they can be used to control the
environment of the molecule.
[2]
As I looked around the room, I recognized most of the students as biology majors who had
at one time or another stopped by my office. Of the twenty students gathered, most were
women; a group of four young men sauntered in together just as the meeting began. As it
turned out, many of the attendees had chemistry and biology classes together. Several
women mentioned how they wanted to find some old exams, and one person asked if there
were class notes from last week’s lecture that she missed. After 40 min, Cindy suggested we
end the meeting so a group of them could study for an exam together. ‘‘Let’s feed our
brains!’’ she yelled. Everyone joined her in laughter.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences
[1]
Incorporation of organic molecules such as dyes inside solid matrices is an attractive topic of
research because of the photostability and fluorescence quantum yield 1-3 of the modified
materials. An approach in this regard is to incorporate molecules inside silica spheres 4-5, the
advantage of this kind of nanoscopic containers is that they can be used to control the
environment of the molecule.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences
semiotic entities can also be projecting sources
hypotheses explain
a proposal hypothesises
the hypothesis in turn posits that
studies suggest
[4]
Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain the chemical composition of infectious
prions and the mechanism of their formation in the neurons of infected hosts, but none has
yet been proven. Perhaps the most provocative proposal has been the "protein-only"
hypothesis, which posits that the infectious agent is composed exclusively of a misfolded,
host-encoded protein called the prion protein (PrP). However, three decades of investigation
have yielded no direct experimental proof for this stringent hypothesis. Moreover, various
biochemical studies have suggested that nonproteinaceous cofactors may be required to
produce infectious prions, possibly by forming physical complexes with PrP (11–4).
Projecting sources in the natural sciences
There are also instances where human voices are projected into the flow of text, as
underlined in the opening clause in [5], although here it is a generic reference only.
[5]
Although many researchers believe that acetic acid is an important substrate for the
removal of phosphate in anaerobic/aerobic activated sludge (AS) processes [1], it
appears to be a minor substrate in municipal sewage [2, 3]. Therefore, novel methods
of acetic acid production from sludges are still reported at the present time [4, 5].
And integral citations that reference the source as researcher + publication (as year) are also
found, as in [6] from an applied physics journal.
[6]
Luikov (1975) developed a set of coupled partial differential equations to describe the
heat and mass transport in capillary porous media. It was assumed that the transfer of
moisture is similar to heat transfer.
Projecting sources in the natural sciences
Committing more or less meaning potential around knowers: degrees of visibility
In the science articles
- a continuum of degrees of visibility of projecting sources.
- a strong preference for super-/sub-script notation which means that
- what is projected is given greater prominence in the discourse than the source of the
projection.
Where projecting authors themselves are introduced into the discourse, these are always
voices from the field of research; they are named as such (researchers), or referenced as
research publications, eg (Luikov 1975).
…. 1-3
hypotheses explain
researchers believe
Luikov (1975) developed
Projecting sources in the humanities
[2]
As I looked around the room, I recognized most of the students as biology majors who had
at one time or another stopped by my office. Of the twenty students gathered, most were
women; a group of four young men sauntered in together just as the meeting began. As it
turned out, many of the attendees had chemistry and biology classes together. Several
women mentioned how they wanted to find some old exams, and one person asked if there
were class notes from last week’s lecture that she missed. After 40 min, Cindy suggested we
end the meeting so a group of them could study for an exam together. ‘‘Let’s feed our
brains!’’ she yelled. Everyone joined her in laughter.
[7]
Aileen, an eighth grade African-American student in a district with school choice at the highschool level, was having a conversation about the process of applying to high schools with
several of her peers and me. She said that it was unfair that they did not admit her to the
performing arts school because of her low grades in science and math: “Why do they care
about math and science if the school is supposed to teach art? I won’t even need science
since I am going to be an artist.” Her statements on the issue cohered with others she had
made over the course of the school year expressing frustration that she was required to learn
science, as she did not feel that it was going to be useful to here in her chosen life path.
Projecting sources in the humanities
Other excerpts from cultural studies texts draw on researcher voices in a way similar to that
observed in the science extracts - projecting voices are named as specific authors associated
with publications. However there are differences…
[8]
Recently, American Indian women have written autobiographies of their experiences in
the academy, providing a look at how they incorporate their vision of themselves as
Indigenous women into their framework of academic discourse. Lowrey (1997), from
Laguna Pueblo, writes a self-study of her passage through a PhD program in sociology
at the University of Washington. In her search for a sense of place in higher education,
she hungered for stories of Indigenous people who struggled with the same issues of
identity. McKinney (1998), a member of the Potawatomi tribe, uses ‘‘multivocality’’ or
a crosscultural approach in her academic research and writing to represent her ‘‘self.’’
More information is instantiated around projecting sources in terms of heritage/location their particular ‘social gaze’ (Maton 2010).
This makes the source more ‘visible’, and implies that the additional information is relevant
to the status of what is known. The kind of knower is made relevant in the process of
legitimation.
Projecting sources in the humanities
Here the writers’ dispositions are presented as relevant to the process of legitimation.
[9]
In this story I position myself as a white Western woman and my values, beliefs,
prejudices and aspirations form a complex lens through which I have come to
understand myself in a particular social context that was at once strange and familiar
over time.
[10]
As a feminist researcher, I want to understand and describe this significant
transformation of self where one’s identities and the doing of science are complexly
intertwined.
Projecting sources in the humanities
Representations of hierarchy of knowers….
[11]
By now a large and heterogeneous body of work, disability studies have traced the
normalizing efforts of medical practices, health care professions and institutions, and
the politics of administrative categories.1 More recently, it has investigated the
enactment of disability in a diversity of cultural and representational practices.2 Many
of these studies owe much to the work of Michel Foucault and genealogical
approaches focusing on the descent, regulation and generative power of discourse. …
Projecting sources in the humanities
Representations of hierarchy of knowers….
[11]
By now a large and heterogeneous body of work, disability studies have traced the
normalizing efforts of medical practices, health care professions and institutions, and
the politics of administrative categories.1 More recently, it has investigated the
enactment of disability in a diversity of cultural and representational practices.2 Many
of these studies owe much to the work of Michel Foucault and genealogical
approaches focusing on the descent, regulation and generative power of discourse. …
[Moser 2005]
The different representations of projecting sources evident across both sets of
extracts (from the science and from the humanities) can be plotted along a
continuum.
The visibility of projecting sources in natural sciences and humanities.
- visibility
+ visibility
(natural sciences)
(humanities)
The different representations of projecting sources evident across both sets of
extracts (from the science and from the humanities) can be plotted along a
continuum.
The visibility of projecting sources in natural sciences and humanities.
SR(- visibility)
SR+
(+ visibility)
(natural sciences)
(humanities)
The different representations of projecting sources evident across both sets of
extracts (from the science and from the humanities) can be plotted along a
continuum.
The visibility of projecting sources in natural sciences and humanities.
SR(- visibility)
SR+
(+ visibility)
(natural sciences)
…. 1-3
hypotheses explain
researchers believe
Luikov (1975) developed
(humanities)
Cindy suggested …
As a feminist researcher, I want to …
American Indian women look at…
McKinney (1998), a member of the Potawatomi
tribe writes …
postcolonial discourse provide a framework for
understanding
Projecting sources in the social sciences: degrees of visibility
An account of an observation of students in a science classroom.
A move towards a less subjective representation of the writer , ie assumed to be co-present
although no explicit reference to such.
[12]
In a middle school science classroom in the suburbs of Washington, DC in 2003, an
ethnically and linguistically diverse group of 8th grade students, Philip, Natalie, Gloria,
and Sean, discuss the answer to a written question about a scientific phenomenon they
are observing at their table. Prompted by a new set of curriculum materials, the
students repeatedly refer to, point to, and even make pictures of, the objects of their
discussion as these things lie on the table before them.
So in this instance more like the humanities than the sciences
Projecting sources in the social sciences: degrees of visibility
In other social science texts elaborating information is given about a source as a product
rather than a person. In extract [13], the authors are backgrounded in relation to a
reference to the product of their research: Latour and Woolgar's (1986) seminal study.
[13]
Latour and Woolgar's (1986) seminal study provides an ethnographic account of the
scientific writing cycle in a professional laboratory. They document how scientists
transform raw data by putting them into charts and graphs, and subsequently use them
along with articles, books, and grant proposals to produce new articles. In turn, the
articles are circulated to colleagues, submitted for publication, and, when published,
often become part of the received body of knowledge.
Projecting sources in the social sciences: degrees of visibility
A similar strategy is evident in the social science text in [14].
What is given thematic prominence is a semiotic entity (Recent work in science studies). It is
the semiotic entity that projects (highlighted, drawn attention to) the knowledge claims (the
social nature of knowledge production in science; the important role played by the scientific
community). This semiotic source then projects another source, this time a generalized
group of knowers (the scientific community) that in turn projects (coming to agreement
about) a decision (what should count as a discovery, or a new fact, in a given field).
[14]
Recent work in science studies has highlighted the social nature of knowledge
production in science and has drawn attention to the important role played by the
scientific community, acting in the Literature, in coming to agreement about what
should count as a discovery, or a new fact, in a given field
(Jasanoff, Markle, Petersen, & Pinch, 1995; Latour, 1987).
So this instance is more like the sciences than the humanities
Projecting sources in the social sciences: degrees of visibility
The social science texts can be positioned in the middle ground.
As with the voices from the humanities texts, they are made visible in the flow of the
discourse. However, where there is elaboration it is more like that from the science texts,
representing the sources as researcher voices rather than participant voices, or as
depersonalised semiotic entities (science studies, seminal study).
- visibility
+ visibility
(natural sciences)
(social sciences)
(humanities)
What is projected in the natural sciences and humanities?
What is projected in the natural sciences?
projecting sources (super-scripts) project analytical procedures that underlie observations of
the scientific world
[15]
Incorporation of organic molecules such as dyes inside solid matrices is an attractive
topic of research because of the photostability and fluorescence quantum yield 1-3 of
the modified materials. An approach in this regard is to incorporate molecules inside
silica spheres, 4-5
Analytical procedures are represented here as a process (to incorporate) and as nominalised
processes (Incorporation; An approach).
What is projected in the natural sciences?
analytical procedures contributing to observations of the scientific world.
[16]
A number of researchers (Fhyr and Rasmuson, 1997; Johanson et al., 1997) solved the
equations describing the drying process separately for each phase (gas, liquid and solid).
These equations contain various thermophysical properties for each phase. More
experimental work is necessary for the determination of these properties. In addition, it is
very difficult to identify exactly the boundaries among the phases. Younsi et al. (2006)
studied experimentally and numerically the high temperature treatment of wood. The
authors used the Luikov's approach for the mathematical formulation. The numerical
solution is, however, complicated (Liu and Cheng, 1991). Lewis et al. (1996) and Malan and
Lewis (2003) solved the highly non-linear equations describing drying systems using the
finite element method. Sanga et al. (2002) solved the diffusion model for transient heat and
mass transfer processes to analyse the drying of a shrinking solid surrounding a
nonshrinking material using microwave energy. In literature, the models describing the
water migration in wood are usually 1D or 2D, which neglect the real variation of
thermophysical properties in 3D. Most of the models are developed to simulate
conventional drying, and there are few reported studies on the modeling of high
temperature treatment of wood.
[source: Younsi et al 2006]
What is projected in the natural sciences
In these discourses of science, the writer and other sources project observations of the
world (in these instances the technical world of the laboratory), observations that are
reported as arrived at through explicitly articulated processes of analysis, sometimes
captured in a nominalised reference to a model or method.
We can refer to such discourse as analytical observations.
What is projected in the humanities?
Observations of the object of study are not confined to the discourses of science.
From a cultural studies take on science education…
[17]
Aileen, an eighth grade African-American student in a district with school choice at the
high-school level, was having a conversation about the process of applying to high
schools with several of her peers and me. She said that it was unfair that they did not
admit her to the performing arts school because of her low grades in science and math:
“Why do they care about math and science if the school is supposed to teach art? I
won’t even need science since I am going to be an artist.” Her statements on the issue
cohered with others she had made over the course of the school year expressing
frustration that she was required to learn science, as she did not feel that it was going
to be useful to here in her chosen life path.
What is projected in the humanities?
[17]
Aileen, an eighth grade African-American student in a district with school choice at the
high-school level, was having a conversation about the process of applying to high
schools with several of her peers and me. She said that it was unfair that they did not
admit her to the performing arts school because of her low grades in science and math:
“Why do they care about math and science if the school is supposed to teach art? I
won’t even need science since I am going to be an artist.” Her statements on the issue
cohered with others she had made over the course of the school year expressing
frustration that she was required to learn science, as she did not feel that it was going
to be useful to here in her chosen life path.
Here the observations are represented as statements of direct witness without any
reference to analytical procedures other than a commonsense interpretation of a first hand
encounter with the world.
We can refer to such discourse as ethno-spective observations.
What is projected in the humanities?
In the humanities we find a wider range of genres being recontextualised into the macrogenre of the research warrant.
As in the example we have just looked at observations of the world may be constructed as a
kind of stories – in what I refer to as an ‘ethno-spective observation’
(the focus of a talk at PolyU on 18th Nov.)
What is projected in the humanities?
We might interpret the following underlined instances in the cultural studies texts in this
study as a minimal step towards technicalisation of a procedure for observation. However,
the underlined wordings refer more to the object of study rather to a process of analysis.
… To self-identify, then, can become a narrative of one’s location.
.. American Indian women have written autobiographies
… Lowrey (1997), from Laguna Pueblo, writes a self-study of her passage through a PhD
program …
What is projected in the humanities?
We might interpret the following underlined instances in the cultural studies texts in this
study as a minimal step towards technicalisation of a procedure for observation. However,
the underlined wordings refer more to the object of study rather to a process of analysis.
… To self-identify, then, can become a narrative of one’s location.
.. American Indian women have written autobiographies
… Lowrey (1997), from Laguna Pueblo, writes a self-study of her passage through a PhD
program …
What is projected?
analytical
observations
ethno-spective
observations
(natural sciences)
(humanities)
What do sources project?
ER+
analytical
observations
sciences
SRminimal visibility of
observer
SR+
maximal visibility
of observer
humanities
ERethno-spective
observations
What do sources project in the social sciences
An analysis of the projections in the social science texts reveals a position in the middle
ground between those from the natural sciences and those from the humanities, this time
along the vertical axis.
While there may be less explicit reference to a method of analysis as was frequently the
case in the science texts, the social science writers often imply a degree of rigour in
analytical procedures that is less evident in the humanities texts. They typically do so
through the lexis they choose to encode the process of doing research.
So, for example, it means differently if the writer chooses explore or examine rather than
look at to describe the activities of the researchers.
Halliday and Martin (1993) also set out to explore ...
Martin (1993) examines ...
Or they may articulate procedures over a longer phase of text
In order to illustrate how […] I first examine […] Next, I trace […] Specifically, I focus on
[…] I analyze […] Finally, […] I explore […] I highlight […]. Through my analysis I argue
that […]
What do sources project in the social sciences
Compare these texts:
From a humanities (cultural studies) journal….
[17]
Aileen, an eighth grade African-American student in a district with school choice at the highschool level, was having a conversation about the process of applying to high schools with
several of her peers and me. She said that it was unfair that they did not admit her to the
performing arts school because of her low grades in science and math: “Why do they care about
math and science if the school is supposed to teach art? I won’t even need science since I am
going to be an artist.” Her statements on the issue cohered with others she had made over the
course of the school year expressing frustration that she was required to learn science, as she
did not feel that it was going to be useful to here in her chosen life path.
From a social science (applied linguistics) journal…
[18]
In a middle school science classroom in the suburbs of Washington, DC in 2003, an ethnically and
linguistically diverse group of 8th grade students, Philip, Natalie, Gloria, and Sean, discuss the
answer to a written question about a scientific phenomenon they are observing at their table.
Prompted be a new set of curriculum materials, the students repeatedly refer to, point to, and
even make pictures of, the objects of their discussion as these things lie on the table before them.
What do sources project in the social sciences
At a glance, extract [18] appears to be an ethno-spective observation of the same kind as
the cultural studies text in [17]. But there is a small degree of difference.
In [17] the events were represented in the past tense, whereas in [18] they are in the
present tense. The universal present tense functions to shift the representation from a
specific instance to an instance that symbolizes a type interaction, suggesting a level of
generalization, perhaps implying the observation referred to as one of a set of observations.
[18]
In a middle school science classroom in the suburbs of Washington, DC in 2003, an
ethnically and linguistically diverse group of 8th grade students, Philip, Natalie, Gloria,
and Sean, discuss the answer to a written question about a scientific phenomenon they
are observing at their table. Prompted be a new set of curriculum materials, the
students repeatedly refer to, point to, and even make pictures of, the objects of their
discussion as these things lie on the table before them.
What do sources project in the social sciences
The generalised representation of observations is also evident in the social science extracts
in [19], once again implying the claims are arrived at through multiple observations, in other
words somewhat more analytical procedures.
[19]
For example, Millar (2004) suggests that students’ experience with natural phenomena
in laboratory activities can be messier or more ambiguous than other forms of
instruction such as lectures and textbooks and because of this, they may present
particular challenges for students trying to learn science.
What do sources project?
ER+
analytical
observations
sciences
SRminimal visibility
of observer
social
sciences
SR+
maximal visibility
of observer
humanities
ERethno-spective
observations
What do sources project?
ER+
analytical
observations
Knowledge
code
sciences
SRminimal visibility
of observer
social
sciences
SR+
maximal visibility
of observer
humanities
Knower
code
ER
- ethno-spective
observations
Integrating knowledge… an example from the sciences
[20]
A number of researchers (Fhyr and Rasmuson, 1997; Johanson et al., 1997) solved the
equations describing the drying process separately for each phase (gas, liquid and solid).
These equations contain various thermophysical properties for each phase. More
experimental work is necessary for the determination of these properties. In addition, it is
very difficult to identify exactly the boundaries among the phases. Younsi et al. (2006)
studied experimentally and numerically the high temperature treatment of wood. The
authors used the Luikov's approach for the mathematical formulation. The numerical
solution is, however, complicated (Liu and Cheng, 1991). Lewis et al. (1996) and Malan and
Lewis (2003) solved the highly non-linear equations describing drying systems using the
finite element method. Sanga et al. (2002) solved the diffusion model for transient heat
and mass transfer processes to analyze the drying of a shrinking solid surrounding a
nonshrinking material using microwave energy. In literature, the models describing the
water migration in wood are usually 1D or 2D, which neglect the real variation of
thermophysical properties in 3D. Most of the models are developed to simulate
conventional drying, and there are few reported studies on the modeling of high
temperature treatment of wood.
Integrating knowledge… summarised
[20]
A: An initial closure is established:
A number of researchers (Fhyr and Rasmuson, 1997; Johanson et al., 1997) solved the
equations describing the drying process separately for each phase (gas, liquid and
solid).
B: New fronts for knowledge are opened up in that process:
1) More experimental work is necessary for the determination of these properties
2) very difficult to identify exactly the boundaries among the phases
C: Researchers attempt to address those gaps:
Younsi et al. (2006) … used the Luikov's approach for the mathematical formulation.
D: A problem arises in that attempt:
The numerical solution is, however, complicated
E: Studies result in partial successes
1) Lewis et al. (1996) and Malan and Lewis (2003) solved the ….
2) Sanga et al. (2002) solved the …
F: Two remaining problems emerge to be addressed by the writer.
1) the models are usually 1D or 2D,
2) few ...modeling of high temperature treatment of wood
Establishing space for new knowledge integratively in the sciences
[20]
?B1
A
C
E1
?F1
E2
?F2
?D
?B2
time
Integrating knowledge … in the social sciences
[21]
The disadvantage experienced by scholars who use English as an Additional Language (EAL)
in writing for publication has been well documented both in the field of applied linguistics
(e.g., Ammon, 2000, 2001; Belcher, 2007; Burrough-Boenisch, 2003; Flowerdew, 1999a,
1999b; Gosden, 1995; Kaplan & Baldauf, 2005; St. John, 1987) and that of science (e.g.,
Benfield & Feak, 2006; Benfield & Howard, 2000; Coates, Sturgeon, Bohannan, & Pasini,
2002; Kirkman, 1996). As well as needing more time to write (e.g., Curry & Lillis, 2004;
Flowerdew, 1999a, 1999b; Lillis & Curry, 2006), EAL writers may encounter difficulties with
reviewers and editors if their use of English is ‘‘non-standard.’’ While there is some
evidence of journal editors’ and reviewers’ tolerance of non-native features in EAL authors’
submissions (Flowerdew, 2001), there are also reports of such gatekeepers criticizing these
features. Ammon (2000, p. 113), for example, as a German editor of a book published in
English, reports on criticisms of his work on the grounds of its ‘‘near unintelligibility
[because] the grammatical mistakes are so severe.’’ Similarly, Curry and Lillis (2004, p. 678)
report on a Hungarian psychologist who made the following remarks: ‘‘if the style or the
form of the paper is not native or not current, reviewers think that ‘this is a stupid man,
this is not acceptable material’.
Integrating knowledge… in summary
[21]
• The most general spatial category is established:
The disadvantage experienced by scholars who use English as an Additional Language
(EAL) in writing for publication
• This is narrowed in metaphorical space to two specific disciplinary areas:
applied linguistics
science
• Then narrowed further to one specific issue:
time to write
• And to another:
tolerance (and) gatekeepers
• Then narrowed further to located instances:
German writers of English
Hungarian writers of English
Establishing space for new knowledge segmentally in the social sciences
[21]
disadvantage...scholars...EAL
time
applied
linguistics
tolerance
gatekeeping
German
space
Hungarian
science
In conclusion
What has emerged in the analyses in this study is a syndrome of features that reflect
differences in the ways in which writers in different disciplines engage with knowers
and knowledge in the context of constructing the warrant for their own research.
Importantly these differences are represented along clines that represent degrees of
difference.
It is hoped that the explication of some of the ways in which different disciplines
legitimate research from a linguistic perspective can assist to clarify what may be at
stake in debates around trans-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary studies.
If disciplines with different underlying legitimation codes are brought together, there
may be a ‘code clash’, an inability to agree on the grounds of debate that debilitates
collaboration and knowledge-building. However, there is a need for more substantial
studies of how the dimensions of difference studied here factor out in a wider range
of disciplines, how they vary across different academic genres, how they shift over
time, and importantly what kind of knowledge-knower structures emerge in
interdisciplinary studies of various kinds.
There is a need for more substantial studies of
- how some of these strategies factor out in specific disciplines,
- how they vary across different academic genres,
- how they shift over time, and
- just what kind of knowledge-knower structures emerge in interdisciplinary studies of
various kinds.
Some of these strategies may well be readily searchable in large corpus based studies, but
others are less so with the tools currently available. There is still a need for continued
careful, systematic and rich analyses of meanings in the logogenesis of individual texts.
References
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Bernstein, B. (1996), Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research and Critique. London: Taylor and Francis.
Bernstein, B. (1999), ‘Vertical and horizontal discourse: An essay’. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20, (2), 157-173.
Bernstein, B. (2000), Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique (revised ed’n) Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
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What do sources project in the humanities?
The existence of knowledge itself may be denied in research writing from a poststructuralist perspectives within the humanities
The Bluff Rock Massacre is a myth, is a fact, is a truth, is a protean tourist attraction, is
a…
[23 lines of differing interpretations of the 'massacre' citing 5 sources…]
So this thesis is organised loosely about five different sources; memory, published
and unpublished diaries, letters, a tourist leaflet and some collected stories from a
local historian. This list is itself indicative of the way in which this event is positioned
as ephemeral and ephemera - it gives some sense of the event's ability to appear and
disappear (in its many forms) within history and is an almost hysterical formation of
Raymond Williams' patterns of history, since this event is always in a state of
emergence and disappearance. But each moment a different story appears, the
attempt can be made to map it within its own moment of difference while reflectively
making of that past my own present. The tension between these two efforts is the
stage upon which this particular performance in set.
[Schlunke 1999]